Remembering the Prankster
by eekfrenzy
Summary: Years after the War of the Ring, Aragorn, Sam, Merry, and Pippin remember Middle-Earth's best prankster... Frodo Baggins.


"But Sam-dad, how can Eldarion learn to rule Hobbits if he doesn't understand our ways?" Frodo Gamgee asked his father as he stood before the open pantry door. A muffled snicker came from Peregrin Took, Thain of Tookland, watching the scene with a pint of beer in his hand. He was companiably kicked by Meriadoc Brandybuck, Master of Buckland, pipe still in Merry's hand. Samwise Gamgee, Mayor of the Shire, ignored the byplay as he gazed at his eldest son, sparing a glance for the young boy shuffling his feet beside the young hobbit. 

Frodo fidgeted as Sam gazed silently at him. "But Uncle Merry and Uncle Pippin did the same thing when they were my age! So did Frodo Baggins!"

"And as a result we know how to complete many boring chores," came the dry voice of Merry. "Such as cleaning out the stables, building fences, digging holes, gathering hay, feeding the livestock--"

"Laying stone floors, doing laundry, peeling vegetables for dinner, scrubbing floors--" Pippin chimed in.

"Herding sheep, polishing silver--" Merry continued.

"Sewing linens," Pippin added. At Merry's look, he added, "I have three older sisters, remember? Mother thought it was a good idea."

As one Merry and Pippin concluded, "and washing dishes at Bilbo's party!"

All thru the recital King Elessar, Aragorn to his friends, quirked his eyebrows as he glanced at the two hobbits. Even though they were now well-respected pillars of society, Aragorn could still see the mischevious pranksters hiding underneath. He gazed fondly at his son, a lad of ten years, dressed hobbit-fashion in short pants, shirt, and suspenders. Unlike a hobbit, Eldarion wore soft leather shoes. Quite the outfit for a midnight pantry raid in Aragorn's castle by Lake Evendim.

Eldarion looked at his father, as Frodo looked at his own. "Laundry?" Eldarion asked weakly, as Frodo said just as weakly, "Scrubbing floors?" 

Sam finally spoke. "I'll speak to the King about your punishment, Frodo-lad. You'll find out what it is tomorrow. Go to bed now, and no more mischief." Sam didn't raise his voice one bit, but his son immediately obeyed and turned to go down the hall to his room. "Yes sir. Goodnight, Sam-dad."

Aragorn nodded curtly, with a small smile, at his son. "Bed, and report to me after breakfast tomorrow morning." Eldarion hung his head as he whispered "Good night" to his father, and turned to walk down the hall.

Pippin opened his mouth, and started to speak, when Sam held up his hand. His voice raised to carry, he said, "Go to YOUR room, Frodo-lad, and no more foolishness tonight. You'll see Eldarion in the morn."

"Yes sir," came a very disappointed reply from Frodo, and a longer sigh from Eldarion. Aragorn smiled at Sam. "You know your son all too well."

Sam shrugged as he returned to his chair and picked up his pipe. "Just mischevious boys having a bit of fun. Nothing more."

Merry chuckled they returned to the comfortable den in Aragorn's castle. "Oh Sam, your son Frodo takes me back. For a moment I could see Frodo standing before Bilbo, a bag of sweets and fruits in his hand, saying 'But Uncle Bilbo, how can I learn to be a proper burglar if I don't practice?'" 

Pippin snickered. "All I could remember was Frodo saying to Uncle Saradoc, 'Merry and me was just watching after Pip. He was sleepwalking again… straight into the pantry. Don't you feed him?'"

At this Aragorn hastily swallowed his mouthful of beer. "Frodo did that? Frodo Baggins?" His unspoken words would have included 'Frodo Baggins, the Ringbearer, the hobbit that was so serious that he made the dour Gimli look like a young boy full of fun?'

Merry snorted. "You only knew Frodo when he had the Ring. You didn't know him earlier… Getting into trouble at Brandy Hall every time Father's back was turned. Uncle Paladin said that it probably was a good thing that Bilbo took in Frodo… the way both of us were going, Brandy Hall might not still be standing."

Pippin looked incredulously at Aragorn. "Weren't you ever a naughty boy? You must have pulled some grand pranks!"

Aragorn looked uncomfortable. "There weren't many children in Rivendell. And one could never pull something over on Elrond… although Elladan and Elrohir tried often enough!" A wicked light shone in his eyes. "You should really ask Arwen about some of their tricks."

Sam puffed on his pipe, and mildly said, "They'll be here in a few days. We can ask them about their pranks, and any of Strider's." Aragorn glanced at him in surprise. When had the self-effacing hobbit come into his role as one of the great heroes of the Third Age? The twinkle in Sam's eye revealed to Aragorn the truth; Sam only felt small amongst strangers. To his friends he was more than happy to tease and be teased.

"At least Frodo could get away with almost anything," Merry said. "He'd just look at Mother with those wide blue eyes, tremble his lip, look up a bit, and she'd soften right away!" Merry demonstrated Frodo's look as he described it; while he did his best, Merry's face was created for mischief. Aragorn laughed at Merry's attempt. "I'd try it with Mother, and the next thing I knew, I'd have to help out with the laundry or something equally boring! I'm certain that Frodo pulled some pranks he never told us about after he went to live with Bilbo. I'm certain a Samwise Gamgee knows some good stories that he might want to share."

Sam closed his eyes. "Some stories, true. Mister Frodo never pulled any pranks on me or the Gaffer, although he did try to pull some on Mister Bilbo. Hah, that was a lost cause! From all reports, Bilbo and Old Rory was nearly as bad as that Brandybuck and Took over there." He puffed on his pipe, lost in thought for a moment. "Though there was one time, when Lobelia and Otho came a-visiting… Oh, that was grand!" 

Merry and Pippin leaned closer. "Do tell, Sam. Don't make me pull the story out of you."

"Well, since you ask so nice… It was a few years before Mister Bilbo left, the afternoon of the Spring Party. I was trimming the garden, when I see Lobelia and Otho come stalking up to Bag End. Frodo wasn't there--he'd gone out early, but Mister Bilbo was in. Not that he was pleased to see them, but he couldn't really send them off. Well, you remember how Lobelia was.. she'd dance right around what she wanted to say until you wanted to squeeze it out of her. Up comes Frodo, walking fast, wearing his fancy clothes, his shirt hanging out of his pants. He looked like he'd run through every bramble and tripped over every branch around Hobbiton. I tried to warn him that Lobelia and Otho were there, but he was practically running to get into Bag End. Next thing I know, there's Lobelia in that sticky-sweet vinegar voice saying, "Obviously someone has forgotten his manners, Bilbo." I was peeking in the window then. Frodo turned around to give Otho a proper bow. Next thing I know, Lobelia's shrieking like a wraith's after her and running over me as she's leaving Bag End. Inside, Mister Bilbo's trying to keep from laughing and discipline Frodo at the same time."

Sam stopped for a moment. Pippin finally asked, "Well, what happened? Frodo was at the party, I remember that. Though he didn't dance much, as I recall. Bilbo didn't whip him, did he?"

Sam shook his head. "Worse. You see, Frodo had gone mushroom-hunting. At Maggot's farm. Apparently Maggot's dog's had chased him. Frodo thought he'd gotten away… until he realized that he felt a draft. The dog's had ripped the seat of his pants clean off!"

Pippin started laughing first, as Merry and Aragorn joined in. "So when he bowed to Otho, he presented his worst side to Lobelia!" Pippin exclaimed. "Oh, that's priceless!"

"But that wasn't the end of it," Sam told him. "Mr. Bilbo told him that since he'd torn his pants, he would have to sew them up himself. Well, you remember Mister Frodo's skill with a needle…"

"Even an Orc could sew better than Frodo," Pippin grinned.

"So he came out and begged me to help him fix his pants. Well, I felt sorry for him, but I told him that I couldn't go against Mr. Bilbo's wishes. I did tell him that the best thing to do would be to take a piece of cloth, and use that as a patch, rather than trying to sew up the remains of the seat. Well, Frodo got back inside, and I got back to work. After a few hours, Frodo comes out. He's wearing his coat and fancy vest, and it looks good. Up until he turns and shows me his handiwork on his pants. He couldn't find a plain piece of cloth to cover that hole, so he used one of the tea-towels. It wasn't going to be falling off, I can tell you that -- not with all those stitches.

"I wasn't going to laugh at him, but I told him that it would be better if he kept his coat on during the party. He was in such a rush that he ran out of Bag End, his coat flapping up, and the fancy tea-towel showing for all the world to see." Sam paused as the full picture presented itself to his friends. "Well, I lied, actually. I did laugh, but when he was far enough away not to hear me. I nearly laughed myself sick, I did. I don't think that Mr. Bilbo intended for those towels to be used like that!"

All four roared with laughter. "It's hard to believe that Frodo would have gotten into such trouble," Aragorn mused. "He was always so quiet and polite."

Pippin snorted. "Who do you think taught me how to filch? Not Merry--he learned everything from Frodo."

Sam took a deep puff. "After Mr. Frodo found out about the Ring, well, it was a serious matter, and not a matter for any pranks. And when we were travelling with the Fellowship… well, it just wasn't the time and place for such things. Although I'm still shocked that Pip managed to behave himself!"

Merry sighed. "Frodo had the burden of the Ring. Else we would have had him help out more on our travels."

"Like cooking? Frodo's one of the few hobbits that could managed to burn water. Wait, that's not entirely true. Frodo could cook about five dishes, but most of then involved mushrooms. Sewing… well, I can sew better than he can." The grin on Pippin's face faded. "I miss him."

"He's being healed. He's not dead," Sam told him fiercely. A shadowed look fell onto his face, until he shook his head. "Hah! When we were in Mordor, 'fore things got bad, I remember one time that Mr. Frodo started laughing. I didn't see what was so funny… until he said, 'Do you realize that I'm pulling the biggest prank of all? We're sneaking into his own house, to destroy his favorite trinket, in his own fireplace! I think that even Merry couldn't top that prank--I don't think Middle-Earth could take it!" Sam grinned, a bit lopsided as sorrow, humor, love and remembered darkness battled in him. He took a deep breath. "I think that Mr. Frodo's outdone both of you!"

A moment of silence, then Pippin raised his mug. "A toast to Frodo Baggins, the bestest hobbit that there ever was. And the best prankster in Middle-Earth!" All four raised their mugs in a toast, and drank.

Merry cocked his head at Aragorn speculatively. "Sam, what Frodo-lad said was true. How can Eldarion rule over the hobbits if he doesn't understand our ways? I know that Aragorn spent many years guarding the Shire--for which we are eternally grateful--but I don't think that anyone introduced him into the joys of pantry-raiding…" The grin on Merry's face was echoed by the similar grin on Pippin's face. Aragorn darted a look at Sam, whose face was pursed in thought.

"Now Merry, I don't think it's the thing for King Elessar to do!" Aragorn breathed a quiet sigh, until Sam continued. "Now that Ranger Strider, I think he needs to be taught pantry-raiding, as Frodo showed you. But not tonight--there's been too much commotion, and this fine beer won't wait. Tomorrow night will do." 


End file.
